Safety mindfulness: the incorporation of low-dose mindfulness as a
leading edge safety interventionTheses and Dissertations
a leading edge safety intervention a leading edge safety
intervention
Connell Nolan
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Nolan, Connell, "Safety
mindfulness: the incorporation of low-dose mindfulness as a leading
edge safety intervention" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 784.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/784
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by
Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in
Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of
Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected].
A Research Project
The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management
Pepperdine University
Master of Science in
CONNELL NOLAN
under the guidance of the Faculty Committee and approved by its
members, has been submitted
to and accepted by the faculty of The George L. Graziadio School of
Business and Management
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
IN ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
iv
Abstract
With nearly 2.9 million work related injuries in the United States
each year and nearly
5,000 work related deaths, opportunities exist to build on existing
safety management
interventions to improve workplace safety. In addition to the
impact on worker’s lives related to
workplace safety accidents, workplace related injuries and deaths
account for nearly $200 billon
in direct costs to U.S. organizations. Current research in the
application of workplace
mindfulness offers the potential for a leading edge intervention
that can lead to increased
attention and situational awareness, which could greatly enhance
workplace safety. The current
study explored the relationship that low-dose mindfulness practice
has on workplace safety.
Included in the current study was an examination of current and
historical interventions for
managing safety as well as a review of mindfulness research, with
an emphasis on workplace
mindfulness, and finally a review of the limited research that has
begun to explore the
relationship between mindfulness and workplace safety. A case study
was conducted with a lab
in a large bio-tech company in Southern California. 16 participants
engaged in daily mindfulness
training for six weeks. After the six-week trial, participants were
interviewed, results were
analyzed and organized into results, theoretical implications, and
practical implications. The
case study concluded with summarizing key themes, surfacing
limitations of the study and
recommendations for further study were identified. The findings of
this study suggest there are
great opportunities for low-dose mindfulness to positively impact
workplace safety, potentially
saving individuals from harm and organizations from costly
accidents.
Keywords: Safety, Mindfulness, Workplace Safety, Safety
Intervention
Mindfulness
.......................................................................................................................20
3. Research Methodology and
Design...........................................................................................30
5.
Discussion.................................................................................................................................42
Limitations
.........................................................................................................................46
References................................................................................................................................................56
Safety Mindfulness:
The Incorporation of Low-Dose Mindfulness as a Leading Edge Safety
Intervention
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported
over 2.9 million
work related injuries in 2013. Using cost figures from the National
Safety Congress, each
occupational workplace injury is estimated to cost in excess of
$39,000 (Herriott, 2013). This
figure only accounts for estimates of wage loss, medical expenses,
administrative expenses and
employer related injury costs. As financially impactful as the
direct costs are, the indirect costs
further demonstrate the economic impact of a lost time injury.
Though more challenging to
quantify, indirect costs include lost productivity, associated
human resources costs
(hiring/training of new employees), increased insurance premiums,
and impact to morale and are
estimated at 3-10 times the direct cost of an incident (Gagne,
2011). As a point of reference,
worker related injuries and illness have been estimated at a cost
equivalent to nearly 3% of GDP
(Leigh, 2011). In 2012, occupational workplace injuries and deaths
were estimated to cost
society nearly $200 billion (Herriott, 2013). The result of
injuries to our society is immense both
in terms of the impact to the individual’s health as well as the
economic impact to the
organization.
With the financial costs demonstrated (Herriott, 2013; Leigh,
2011), and the human
consequence of nearly three million people injured each year and
over four thousand killed
(OSHA), the adage “safety makes good business” holds true. When
looking strictly through the
lens of business strategy, case studies demonstrate the positive
impacts of investing in safety.
Companies such as Schneider Electric (France) and Alcoa (United
States) have made worker
safety a strategic business initiative. The strategy of investing
heavily in safety not only resulted
7
annual savings for Schneider while the stock price of Alcoa
increased over 600% in the five
years CEO Paul O’Neil made safety the organizations top priority
(Herriott, 2013).
Managing Safety
Strategies to protect workers has been evolving rapidly in the
United States since the
early 20th century. Largely in response to workers’ compensation
laws established in the early
1900s, organizations first begin taking steps to increase worker
safety through the adoption of
engineering solutions to safety hazards. Examples of engineering
solutions include machine
guarding and providing personal protective equipment (e.g., safety
goggles). The first generation
of safety management aimed at creating physical protections between
the worker and the
potential hazards (Goetsch, 2014).
create consistency in worker behavior through clearly established
policies and procedures
(Goetsch, 2014). Known in safety circles as enforcement, this
generation of safety management
attempted to provide clear expectations for safe working behavior.
With the creation of policies
came disciplinary processes for when policies were not followed.
Furthermore, increased
technology in the workplace and more detailed policies and
procedures, organizations saw a need
to provide more education for their workforces. Education
initiatives included increased training
on machinery, safety procedures, and injury prevention (Goetsch,
2014).
Though these methods for managing safety have significantly
contributed to increased
safe working conditions, dropping the workplace fatality rate by
over 90% since the early 1900s
(NCSE, 1997), organizations are now looking for alternative work
strategies and interventions to
8
culture where the injury occurred, or a combination of the two,
increased attention is being
placed on leading edge solutions to safety problems. Leading edge
indicators include hazard
identification systems, near miss reporting, or a host of other
tools designed to increase
awareness and communication to prevent an accident before it
happens. These strategies for
leading edge safety management is further supported with an
understanding that many hazardous
activities take place in unsupervised groups where some traditional
strategies (policies and
procedures) are not easily enforced (Reason, Parker, & Lawton,
1998). Lagging indicators
include incident investigations and other tools that are utilized
after an accident or injury has
occurred in hopes of gaining information that will prevent future
accidents. There are many
challenges in addressing worker safety such as stress, fatigue,
cognitive fixation, automation
surprise (a machine acts in a non-routine manner), and lapse’s in
attention (Dekker, 2013; Huber,
Hill, & Merritt, 2015) which can put workers at risk for
serious injury. In pursuit of additional
strategies for further reducing the number of workers injured from
the leading edge, a growing
body of research looks to investigate the potential for mindfulness
as part of a strategy to
increase worker safety (Huber et al., 2015).
Mindfulness
Mindfulness has become a broad term often used to describe a
present-centered state.
There is an eastern-based version associated with meditation and a
western version that is not
associated with meditation. The distinctions and similarities of
these two view will be explored
below.
Mindfulness has grown from a practice associated with Buddhist
teachings, incorporating
meditation as a practice to become more mindful, to a more
secularly accepted practice with a
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCT). It has been
used widely in the
support sleep therapy, and as part of treatment plans for anxiety
and depression. Mindfulness
has gained attention outside of medical applications including
popularity in such diverse areas as
athlete performance (Birrer, 2012), entertainment, literature,
self-help, as well as successful
applications with our military personnel in both preparing for and
returning from combat
deployment (Jha, 2015).
Interest in mindfulness has grown dramatically in recent years in
both popular culture and
academic study. At the time of this writing, a search for
mindfulness-related books in
Amazon.com will generate 16,000 hits, over 6,000 specifically
related to mindfulness
meditation. This trend extends beyond the databases of Amazon to
areas of academic study with
thousands of articles written on subjects related to mindfulness
(Good et al., 2016; Hyland, Lee,
& Mills, 2015). Although thousands of research studies have
been focused on mindfulness, only
a fraction of these studies have examined the role of mindfulness
in the workplace. Further, of
the studies which examine mindfulness in the workplace, none were
found that attempted to
examine the relationship between the incorporation of daily
mindfulness practice and workplace
safety.
As mentioned previously, workplace injuries are often correlated to
human errors that can
be attributed to attention, fatigue, and stress (Dekker, 2006;
Huber et al., 2015; Kaplan &
Tetrick, 2011; Reason et al., 1998; Weick, 2006). Research has
shown positive results of
mindfulness practices in the domains of stress reduction,
depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and
attention (Good et al., 2016; Huber et al., 2015; Hülsheger et al.,
2014; Hyland et al., 2015) . The
possibility for a positive relationship between mindfulness
practices and a decrease in workplace
injuries.
Research Purpose
The current study attempted to explore the impact of daily
mindfulness practices on
workplace safety. The mindfulness practices include training and
implementation of both formal
(breath focused) and informal (meaningful pauses) mindfulness
practices with frontline workers.
The limited research found in the application of mindfulness to
workplace safety has restricted
the implementation of a practice that has potentially positive
benefits to workplace settings of all
types.
The development of strategies that may have the ability to increase
attention and
awareness in complex and hazardous work environments has the
potential to save countless
workers from injury or death. The benefits of mindfulness will no
longer be reserved for those
who have specific job classifications, levels of education, or past
experience with mindfulness.
The goal of this research was to explore the relationship between
mindfulness practice and safety
performance in the hope of developing an intervention that will
increase workplace safety.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This chapter provides the current impact of occupational accidents
and fatalities while
providing additional information regarding the way in which
occupational safety is currently
practice positively impact workplace safety and potentially reduce
workplace injuries? The very
limited research in this area will be presented along with
theoretical linkages to support the
research in question.
Safety Trends
Though challenging to precisely calculate due to direct and
indirect costs, it is estimated
that the total cost of workplace injuries and fatalities in the
United State are between $250
Billion (Leigh, 2011) and $365 Billion annually (OSHA, 2013). This
cost comes with the price
of over 3 million nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses
(Bureau of Labor and Statistics
(BLS), 2013) and 4,670 worker related fatalities (OSHA, 2013). The
impact of worker related
injuries places a heavy burden on workers’ health as well as the
economic health of
organizations.
Dramatic progress had been made in workplace safety in the United
States over the past
one hundred years. The National Safety Council estimates that work
related injuries declined
90% from 1933 to 1997 (See Figure 1). More recently, when looking
at workplace fatalities and
injuries from 1990-2011, there is a continued decrease in both
injury and accident rates (See
Figure 2) (Council, 2013).
Figure 2. Occupational Deaths and Death Rates, U.S. 1992-2011
Though progress has been made in workplace safety, in 2014 there
were still 4,500
industrial deaths and over 3 million workers injured (OSHA). With
hundreds of billions of
dollars spent and thousands of people continuing to be hurt or
killed on the job there remains
continued exploration for interventions that can focus on
continuous improvement when it comes
to the area of workplace safety (Carrillo, 2012; Haight, Yorio,
Rost, & Willmer, 2014).
Safety Management
Early adoptions in workplace safety focused on the 3E’s of safety:
Engineering,
Enforcement, and Education (Goetsch, 2014). These interventions
included many of the
traditional and immediately effective solutions to keep workers
safe. This involved providing
workers with personal protective equipment, machine guarding, and
engineering additional
14
that fit within the traditional safety and health programs
included: safety training, behavioral
safety observations, safety meetings, safety inspections, audits,
hazard and risk assessments,
safety awareness campaigns, and increased work in organizational
culture activities (Haight et
al., 2014). These safety activities are credited with significantly
impacting the positive
advancements in safety data.
The advancements that have been made in safety can be correlated to
an increase in
effective safety programs. However, there remains wide-spread
concern in safety circles
regarding the effectiveness of using leading versus lagging
indicators to further improve
workplace safety. Leading indicators reference the quality of an
intervention’s implementation
(Haight et al., 2014) while lagging indicators often review data
after an accident has occurred in
hopes of making corrective action in the future. Many lagging
indicators can be negatively
impacted if the culture of the organization does not support honest
and candid feedback (Carrillo,
2012). Activities such as incident investigations, which have the
desired purpose of learning and
initiating change, can be undermined when there is fear of
culpability (Garrett & Teizer, 2009).
One challenge with relying heavily on lagging indicators is that
these incidents are relatively
rare, which creates a discontinuous feedback loop. Furthermore,
they generally only capture
moments of unsafe occurrence rather than the system’s overall
safety state (Reason et al., 1998).
Other systems-based activities that have become traditional safety
activities, such as behavior
based safety observations, have come under increasing criticism
amidst growing data that
demonstrates at times these observations are being “pencil
whipped,” completed with limited or
in some cases no actual observation, in order to comply with a
company policy but not truly
In combination with traditional approaches to safety management,
current interventions
present additional philosophies and systems to be incorporated into
the safety arena to make
continued progress in preventing workplace incidents. A
systems-based approach, referred to as
Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) have
become popular with
agencies such as OSHA as they attempt to provide increased
alignment and uniformity among
the various workplace safety programs a company may be utilizing
(Haight et al., 2014). The
systems approach attempts to offer a uniform solution where
policies and procedures are written,
communicated, and implemented in a similar fashion.
Trying to define the cause of injuries and accidents is complex,
and often requires
specific incident analysis. ‘Errors’ have been defined as “the
failure of planned actions to
achieve their desired ends” (Reason et al., 1998, p. 291). Dekker
(2006) presents a diametrically
opposed views of human error that continues to challenge how
workplace safety is viewed. In
the old view, known as bad apple theory, complex systems would be
fine if it were not for
erroneous behavior or unreliable people. Dekker (2006) argues this
places the blame squarely
upon human error (e.g., loss of situational awareness, complacency,
negligence). The “new
view” is presented as human error being a symptom of deeper trouble
(e.g., culture, climate,
leadership, pressure, motivation, individual and organizational
factors) and connecting people’s
behavior with the circumstances surrounding them (Neal &
Griffin, 2006). These circumstances
provide the true sources of the trouble and help to explain the
rationale for how individual
behavior occurred (Dekker, 2006; Neal & Griffin, 2006; Reason
et al., 1998). Those that hold to
Dekker’s “old view” argue that over 80% of incidents and accidents
are caused by human error
(Garrett & Teizer, 2009; Shappell & Wiegmann, 2000) while
also impacted by organizational
cultural set of circumstances that influence the individual
behavior (Carrillo, 2012; Dekker,
2006; Neal & Griffin, 2006). In terms of errors associated with
violating safety procedures,
violations can be categorized by routine violations, optimizing
violations, or situational
violations (Dierynck, Leroy, Savage, & Choi, 2016; Reason et
al., 1998). This categorization
supports the duality of human and environmental factors that result
in safety violations or
accidents.
Mindfulness Approaches
One challenge in the continued exploration of the potential
benefits of mindfulness is
organizing the various definitions, understandings, and
applications of mindfulness. Though
originally presented through the lens of Buddhist understanding,
variations of mindfulness have
been researched and taught. Studies linking western approaches to
mindfulness and safety will be
examined in this study. However, the clear distinction will be made
that the focus of this study is
to explore the principles of the Eastern-based understanding of
mindfulness, through meditation
practice, and its potential to increase worker safety.
Western Approach to Mindfulness and Safety
The Western approach to mindfulness is non-meditative and
emphasizes drawing novel
distinctions, resulting in being more present, perceptive, and
guided (but not governed) by rules
and routines (Djikic, 2014; Langer, 1989). An example of our
emphasis on novel distinctions
could be the mindset we may adopt when traveling to a new place.
When traveling, often we are
looking for things that are new, we are actively searching for
similarities and differences. The
expectation may be that things are going to look new, so we notice.
However, in our daily lives
we often don’t expect things to look different, so we adopt a
mindset of expecting things to look
17
perspective, the main problem to overcome is this concept of
mindlessness (Langer, 1989),
which can be described as making bad decisions or no decisions at
all by falling victim to our
routines, stereotypes, or authority-compliant behaviors (Djikic,
2014). From the Western
perspective, people are controlled and prevented from making better
choices by the automaticity
created by past experiences and controlled environments (Djikic,
2014). An example that may
demonstrate this notion of mindlessness is the feeling of driving
on auto pilot. If you have ever
arrived at a given location and had a feeling that a portion of the
trip is one you cannot remember
in detail, this is an example of mindless behavior. A second
example of mindlessness may come
as a result of repetition. If you conduct an activity so often that
it becomes second nature, you
may conduct that activity without thinking about it, even though
thinking about it may be
advantageous to you.
Largely pioneered by Langer (1989), this Western version of
mindfulness has some
significant distinction from the Eastern approaches. The Western
approach emphasizes that
mindfulness requires categorizing, judging, questioning, and
problem solving activities (Djikic,
2014; Hyland et al., 2015) which contrasts concepts like acceptance
and withholding judgment
that are prevalent in Eastern understandings (Hyland et al., 2015).
Many similarities of Eastern
and Western approaches exist, and will be explored later in this
review. Langer’s approach has
been subsequently applied by organizational scholars to the
potential impacts of reducing
automaticity in the context of high reliability
organizations.
Based largely on the Western approach to mindfulness, High
Reliability Organizations
(HROs) have begun to capture increased attention as models to
investigate for increasing overall
safety performance(S. Dekker, 2006; K. Weick, Sutcliffe, &
Obstfeld, 1999). Examples of
plants. HROs are organizations that despite very challenging
environments have above average
safety records and high reliability. HRO theory attempts to
describe characteristics of
organizations that maintain both their reliability and
effectiveness despite operating in complex
and dangerous environments (Khorsandi & Aven, 2014). One such
characteristic that has
surfaced when researching HROs is presences of mindfulness and
mindful organizations (Weick,
1999). As safety records of HROs have received increased attention,
growing interest has been
shown in the relationship between Western-based mindfulness and
positive safety performance.
Mindfulness has been established as an organizational trait of
HROs.
Drawing on the work of Weick, organizations that exhibit positive
attributes of high
reliability when it comes to safety have developed and
intentionally maintained a state of
collective mindfulness. In describing collective mindfulness,
processes in HROs are distinctive
because they focus on five key principles: preoccupation on failure
rather than success,
reluctance to simplify interpretations, sensitivity to operations,
commitment to resilience, and
dereference to expertise (Weick, 2006; Weick, Sutcliffe, &
Obstfeld, 1999). These processes are
tied together by their ability to induce a rich awareness (Weick et
al., 1999).
Research into HROs offers a balanced viewpoint on priorities when
managing safety with
a focus on acting from a leading edge. HROs are constantly
measuring and monitoring their
systems with an understanding that mechanical breakdowns exist,
people become desensitized to
risks, and failures happen. Given the dynamic reality of working
environments a constant state
of awareness and assessment is necessary. This mindset of constant
awareness and inquiry are
understood by some to be the strongest preventative measures
(Weick, 1999).
correlations from this understanding of mindfulness and workplace
safety. Though it has unique
characteristics that distinguish it from the Eastern-based approach
to mindfulness often achieved
through meditative practices, similarities do exist between the
approaches. Both approaches
propose a present-centered emphasis that seeks to avoid attachment
to any one focus of
concentration (Djikic, 2014). There is a growing trend by leading
proponents on each side to
bridge the gap between meditative and non-meditative approaches to
mindfulness (Djikic, 2014).
Weick (2006) clearly articulates how the associated benefits of
Eastern-based mindfulness
meditation may enhance the effectiveness of the trait mindfulness
associated with HRO’s
continued pursuit of safety excellence. Of the many benefits
outlined, Weick (2006) relates the
benefits of attentional stability, vividness associated with the
Eastern understanding of
mindfulness to the five mindful processes associated with
organizing for high reliability. This
relationship of Eastern and Western understandings of mindfulness
supports the notion of safety
being positively influenced by the presence of mindfulness, whether
individual or collective.
When discussing individual and/or collective mindfulness, research
has begun to explore the
relationship between levels of mindfulness, individual and
collective (Sutcliffe, Sutcliffe, Vogus,
& Dane, 2016). The current research attempted to dissect the
levels and definitions of
mindfulness to further understand the individual and collective
benefits obtained through
enhanced mindfulness, while exploring the relationship that may
exist between increased
individual mindfulness to improved collective mindfulness.
To prevent the language of mindfulness or the debate over modern
definitions of
mindfulness to detract from the focus of this study, Western-based
mindfulness will not be
further explored here. Instead, this study will focus on the
potential of Eastern-based mindfulness
to increase individual worker safety.
A widely-accepted definition of mindfulness is awareness that
arises through paying
attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally
(Kabat-Zinn, 1994). As a state
based definition, mindfulness can be enhanced from an Eastern
approach through a meditation
practice that cultivates present moment awareness while attending
to relevant aspects of
experience in a nonjudgmental way (Ludwig & Kabat-Zinn, 2014).
Dispositional or trait-like
mindfulness is simply explained as individuals inherently
possessing a personality that lends
itself to being more mindful than others (Brown & Ryan, 2003).
This stems from the
understanding of mindfulness as a nonjudgmental experience of the
present moment regardless
of whether the moment is positive or negative (Hülsheger, Alberts,
Feinholdt, & Lang, 2013).
Though state-based mindfulness was once thought to be unique from
trait-based, the constructs
show a high degree of overlap in related outcomes (Brown &
Ryan, 2003; Hülsheger et al.,
2013) and research has indicted that heightening state-based
mindfulness increases trait
mindfulness (Kiken, Garland, Bluth, Palsson, & Gaylord,
2015).
Both state and trait mindfulness have been extensively studied,
primarily examining
benefits outside the workplace. Historically, mindfulness research
has largely focused on health
and wellness studies (Khoury, Sharma, Rush, & Fournier, 2015).
A small but growing body of
research has begun to explore potential benefits of mindfulness in
the workplace (Good et al.,
2016; Hyland et al., 2015).
Scholars have reviewed the existing literature exploring
mindfulness in workplace
organizations(Good et al., 2016; Hyland et al., 2015). Good and
colleagues (2016) organized the
existing literature and potential impacts of mindfulness at work to
performance, relationships and
wellbeing.
Figure 3. Integrative Framework Relating Mindfulness to Workplace
Outcomes
Figure 3 shows how mindfulness can be explained in a linear
progression, from practice
to workplace outcomes. Mindfulness is perceived to positively
impact human functioning
through attention, which can lead to enhanced awareness.
Mindfulness has been shown to
improve three qualities of attention: stability, control, and
efficiency (Good, 2016).
Stability refers to the ability to stabilize attention in the
present as opposed to attentional
wandering or daydreaming. Studies have estimated that the human
mind spends nearly half its
waking hours in the wandering state (Killingsworth & Gilbert,
2010; Mrazek, Franklin, Phillips,
Baird, & Schooler, 2013; Smallwood & Schooler, 2015). This
stability may stem from the skill
to notice when wandering is occurring and the ability to return to
present-moment focus (Good et
al, 2016). Control refers to the ability to reduce attention to
distracting information and has been
Good et al. / Contemplating Mindfulness at Work 3
therapeutic tool to help medical patients manage chronic illness
(Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Two decades later, Weick and Roberts (1993),
inspired by Langer and colleagues’ research (e.g., Langer, 1989),
introduced mindfulness into the management literature, but their
conception of mindfulness as cognitive flexibility and attention to
novelty is largely distinct from Bud- dhist conceptions.
Classical Buddhist accounts of mindfulness highlight clear-minded
attention to and awareness of what is perceived in the present
(Quaglia, Brown, Lindsay, Creswell, & Goodman, 2015). The terms
attention and awareness are important to understanding
Figure 1 Integrative Framework Relating Mindfulness to Workplace
Outcomes
by guest on November 19, 2015jom.sagepub.comDownloaded from
supported by neurological evidence of long-time meditators (Good,
2016). Finally, attentional
efficiency refers to the efficient use of cognitive resources. As
attentional control increases, the
amount of cognitive resources spent on off-task thoughts and
activities decreases, increasing the
efficiency of one’s attention. As reported by expert meditators, as
well as being visible in fMRI
scans, meditators exhaust fewer brain resources linked to increased
executive attention (Good,
2016). In general, “attention may always be scarce, but mindfulness
may allow more responsible
stewardship of this precious cognitive resource,” (Good, 2016, p.
133).
As attentional capacity is increased, functional domains of
cognition, emotion, behavior,
and even one’s physiology has been shown to be positively impacted
(Good et al., 2016).
Cognitive capabilities including working memory, the part of the
short-term memory concerned
with immediate perceptual and linguistic processing, has been
improved with mindfulness
training (Roeser et al., 2013). Heightened levels of cognitive
flexibility have been associated
with mindfulness training, offering benefits such as creativity and
innovative problem solving
behaviors (Ding et al., 2015; Ostafin & Kassman, 2012).
Mindfulness and mindfulness training have demonstrated several
benefits related to one’s
emotional domain. As one becomes more aware to their own emotional
state there appears to be
a positive influence connecting mindfulness to the severity and
reactivity to stimuli that elicit an
emotional response (Arch & Craske, 2010; Davidson, 1998). The
ability to be less reactive and
emotionally impacted by given stimulus presents further choice in
one’s behavior.
Behavioral domains positively impacted by mindfulness are related
to the superior self-
regulation that may occur when attention is increased (Glomb,
2011). In addition to the ability to
be in greater control of one’s behavior, the ability to reduce
automaticity, behavioral patterns
environment. Automaticity is a perceived small, or non-existent,
mental gap between a stimulus
and a behavioral response. This state of “automatic pilot” results
in a condition of mindlessness
that can create fixation on a single perspective without awareness
that things could be otherwise
(Djikic, 2014; Weick et al., 1999). The ability to create more
perceived space between stimulus
and response provides an enhanced opportunity to make choices based
on all available data and
not strictly through the filter of past experiences. This ability
to recognize and potentially
change behavior offers alternatives to the often-held assumption in
safety that behavior is done
because “I’ve always done it this way.”
Beyond the ability to adjust the way attention is enacted in the
present moment,
mindfulness training has been associated with changes in the
physiology of the brain. Referred
to as neuroplasticity, the structural changes that mindfulness
practitioners have demonstrated
include the shrinking of the amygdala and increasing thickness of
the pre-frontal cortex (Good,
2015; Hyland et al., 2015; Taren, Creswell, & Gianaros, 2013).
This change in brain structure
suggests less reliance on lower-order brain activity associated
with the fight or flight functions of
the amygdala and enhanced dependence on high-order, pre-frontal
cortex regions associated with
awareness, concentration, and decision-making. Furthermore,
research has shown that
meditation increases activity in the area of the brain responsible
for self-regulation of attention
(Jha, et al., 2007).
The impact mindfulness may have on functional domains can influence
workplace
outcomes by positively impacting performance, relationships and
well-being (Good et al., 2016;
Hyland et al., 2015). Workplace performance has been positively
impacted by showing
mindfulness may help employees better deal with organizational
change through a decreased
24
trait mindfulness were also shown to have higher patient ratings of
communication and overall
quality of care (Beach et al., 2013).
Higher quality relationships in the workplace have been related to
mindfulness through
the correlation of those with increased mindfulness demonstrating
higher levels of emotional
intelligence (Chu, 2010). The four components of emotional
intelligence are self-awareness,
self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
This increase in self and
social awareness positively influence relationships both
interpersonal behavior as well as
working with others. Many of the tangible skills positively
impacted include quality of
communication and listening (Beckman et al., 2012). Related studies
have shown that
mindfulness may improve one’s relationships because of reduced
emotional reactivity (Baer,
2003).
Work related well-being is supported in research correlating
mindfulness to positive
impacts on one’s emotion/mood (Williams, 2006) and reduced
work-related emotional
exhaustion in studies of those participating in mindfulness
training (Hülsheger et al., 2013). As
one’s overall stress impact and personal well-being may influence
their ability to perform at
work, it is also possible for the positive benefits related to
managing stress and even forms of
depression and anxiety may also impact one’s work performance
(Miller, Fletcher, & Kabat-
Zinn, 1995).
Based on the demonstrated benefits mindfulness has on attention
through impacting the
four domains of human functioning and three workplace outcomes
(Good et al., 2016), the
intention of this study is to further explore the potential of
mindfulness training as an
increases to stabilizing and controlling attention while enhancing
cognitive flexibility. These
benefits have the potential to enable employees most in danger,
with an increased level of
dexterity in responding to environmental turbulence or automation
surprise (Dekker, 2006;
Good, 2015).
Mindfulness and Workplace Safety
Through the approach of dispositional mindfulness, a pair of
studies by Zhang and
colleagues (2013, 2014) explored the relationship between
dispositional mindfulness and worker
safety. These studies explored the potential benefits of sustained
attention, cognitive flexibility,
control of risk behavior, and interpersonal relationships on safety
performance in high risk
industries. This research specifically examined the relationship
between dispositional
mindfulness and task performance with operators at a nuclear power
plant. With a focus on the
link between dispositional mindfulness and task performance, Zhang
and colleagues (2013)
found that the presence factor of dispositional mindfulness had a
significant positive influence on
task and safety performance for those who held jobs with high
levels of complexity (e.g., power
plant control room operators). However, those with a high level of
dispositional mindfulness had
a negative impact on task performance and a non-significant impact
on safety performance for
those that were classified in low-task complexity jobs (e.g., field
operators) (Zhang, Ding, Li, &
Wu, 2013). The current study suggests that there is a positive
interaction between dispositional
mindfulness and task as well as safety performance but also
suggests boundary conditions of task
complexity may influence the associated impact of mindfulness on
safety performance.
Zhang and colleagues (2013, 2014) acknowledged many limitations in
their research.
26
variable, such as increased training, would increase both mindful
practice and performance
(Zhang et al., 2013). Further questions surfaced such as the
self-identification of trait
mindfulness and questions related to the evaluation of safety and
task performance solely based
on supervisors scoring of surveys.
In another study, which investigated the relationship between
dispositional mindfulness
and safety behavior (Zhang & Wu, 2014), Zhang examined the
benefits of dispositional
mindfulness through the lens of a dual process perspective of human
behavior incorporating two
basic cognitive systems. The first cognitive system was an
unconscious “automatic” system and
the second system was a controlled “conscious” system that was more
cognitive in nature. The
premise was that mindfulness would improve the more autonomous
functions associated with
one’s automatic system by being more aware. This was presumed to
improve situational
awareness and decrease the likelihood of risky behaviors. The
potential benefits to the conscious
system presented was supported by research that mindful people are
reluctant to simplify
perceptions, causing more intentional awareness and thorough
investigations into potential risks
(Zhang & Wu, 2014). Additional suggested benefits to the
conscious system were based on the
potential for increased efficiency of cognitive resources.
Identifying potential benefits, the study
focused on experienced control room operators in Chinese nuclear
power plants. Surveys were
administered to assess self-reported levels of perceived
dispositional mindfulness and safety
behavior as well as cognitive tests to gauge the impact of
intelligence.
Zhang and Wu (2014) proposed four hypotheses. First, that
dispositional mindfulness
would be positively related to safety behavior. Second,
dispositional mindfulness would add
experienced operators. Finally, the relationship between
mindfulness and safety behaviors would
be stronger among more intelligent operators. The relationship
between mindfulness and
intelligence was explored based on a presumption that one’s
intelligence is a measurement of the
ability to use the second, “conscious,” cognitive system. A
person’s level of intelligence was
used as the moderator of the mindfulness-performance relationship
(Zhang & Wu, 2014). The
third and fourth hypotheses, experience and intelligence, were used
as boundary conditions.
Zhang and Wu (2014) demonstrated benefits of mindfulness as related
to workplace
safety. Of the four hypotheses that were offered, each was
supported although the effect sizes
were small to medium in size. Dispositional mindfulness was
positively correlated to positive
safety behaviors and the effect was more meaningful for those with
higher levels of intelligence
and greater experience. The correlation between mindfulness and
intelligence in operators
suggests that intelligence may be a boundary condition of
mindfulness (Zhang & Wu, 2014).
Additional studies have found similar correlations between levels
of dispositional
mindfulness and safety. One study found a correlation between
levels of dispositional
mindfulness and food safety practices (Betts & Hisz, 2015). As
a result of this finding, Betts and
Hisz (2015) called for an investigation of state-mindfulness
achieved through meditation and its
potential impact on food safety.
Dierynck and colleagues (2016) explored the role of both individual
and collective
mindfulness has on promoting workplace safety in healthcare. By
measuring individual and
collective mindfulness alongside self-reported work-around
(short-cuts) rates and safety failures
with over 500 nurses, the authors demonstrated a relationship
between enhanced levels of
mindfulness and safe behavior. In their research, a linear model of
evidence suggests that high
28
(Dierynck et al., 2016). Dierynck and colleagues (2016) added that
one way to increase
individual mindfulness, and in doing so impacting overall safety
performance, is to offer
mindfulness training.
The growing research exploring the relationship between mindfulness
and safety has
demonstrated mindfulness has a positive influence on worker safety
(Betts & Hinsz, 2015;
Dierynck et al., 2016; Huber et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2013;
Zhang & Wu, 2014). This research
has focused on assessing mindfulness from a dispositional
perspective without the presence of
mindfulness training. In response to Huber’s (2015) call for
action, as well as limitations and
opportunities surfaced in other studies (Betts & Hinsz, 2015;
Dierynck et al., 2016; Zhang et al.,
2013; Zhang & Wu, 2014), the current research attempts to
closely explore the relationship
between the incorporation of a mindfulness meditation practice
(mindfulness training) and
worker safety. The current study hope to fill a gap by exploring
the impact of mindfulness
training to individual mindfulness and safety performance.
Opportunity for Further Safety Research
In the United States, improvements in safety management have been
responsible for
dramatically increasing workplace safety as well as significantly
lowering the financial impact to
organizations. Despite the gains made, thousands continue to be
hurt or killed each year and
billions of dollars are spent in both direct and indirect costs
associated with workplace accidents.
Many researchers and safety professionals have begun exploring
non-traditional methods to
improve workplace safety.
An opportunity exists to increase the small body of research aiming
to explore the
correlation of mindfulness to workplace safety. By focusing on the
impact of increased
attention and awareness (Good, 2016) the demonstrated benefits on
attention (stability, control,
efficiency), as well as reduced dependency on behavioral
automaticity offer potentially powerful
benefits for front-line workers.
Mindfulness has a clear path to workplace outcomes that could
improve workplace
safety. As mindfulness is developed, improvements to attention
occur. As attentional capacity is
increased, situational awareness is enhanced. When workers are more
aware of their
surroundings, behaviors, and cognitive patterns, increased choices
become available. Rather
than doing things the way they have always done them, workers may
begin to question whether
working-around a policy to save time is worth the risk. They may
become more aware of their
own level behavioral automaticity and this heightened presence may
enable them to react to their
machines acting out of the ordinary or if their environments
present a sudden danger. During
stressful situations, workers may have strengthened the ability to
cope with sudden stresses and
while doing so demonstrate enhanced cognitive flexibility,
demonstrating problem solving
behaviors that take into consideration a wider range of potential
risks. The ability to enhance
awareness and deal with stress because of increased attention has
direct applications to
increasing workplace safety.
Previous research has measured the relationship between mindfulness
and workplace
safety through the lens of dispositional mindfulness and not the
incorporation of mindfulness
practice(Zhang & Wu, 2014). Despite some skepticism regarding
the benefits of low-complexity
job functions and mindfulness (Zhang & Wu, 2014), research
suggests the attentional qualities of
mindfulness may positively impact routine tasks (Good, 2016).
Limited research has been
conducted to evaluate whether there is a positive correlation on
workplace safety after the
through the incorporation of a mindfulness training intervention
within an organization to
explore the potential benefits of a mindfulness practice on
workplace safety.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology and Design
The purpose of this case study was to explore the relationship
between mindfulness and
workplace safety. Mindfulness has well documented benefits
associated with health and wellness
outcomes. Workplace benefits of mindfulness are supported (Good et
al., 2016; Hülsheger et al.,
2014), however, there is limited research exploring the benefits of
mindfulness and its potential
relationship to workplace safety. There have been calls in recent
research studies to move
beyond confirming the relationship between mindfulness and safety
to conducting experiments
that explore the potential benefits of incorporating mindfulness
training to workplace safety
(Dierynck et al., 2016; Good, 2015; Huber et al., 2015; Zhang et
al., 2013). This case study
attempts to explore the impact of a low-dose mindfulness training
on workplace safety through
field research with a client system.
Research Sample
The client group was a single lab within one of the leading
companies conducting genetic
testing and manufacturing precision laboratory equipment. The
specific site has achieved
significant safety milestones including being awarded the
prestigious Voluntary Protection
Program (VPP) certification from OSHA. VPP is a certification given
to organizations that excel
beyond OSHA standards in implementing an effective safety culture
that provides the best
possible protection for its employees. Though the company has
achieved great success with its
current safety programs, contacts within the Environmental Health
and Safety (EHS)
departments are eager to explore leading edge solutions that may
positively impact culture,
31
department were excited at the opportunity to pilot a mindfulness
training intervention. One
challenge at the onset of the intervention was to find the correct
setting within the organization
that would support the efficacy of a six-week exercise. As the
daily mindfulness training takes
away from production meetings or time where participants could be
completing their daily job
function, representatives from the EHS departments were very
careful in selecting a lab to pilot
the experiment.
A representative from EHS presented the experiment during a site
manager meeting. To
be equitable, the experiment design was shared and the EHS
representative asked if any lab
managers were interested in participating in the pilot. Initially a
lab had been selected that had
several poor safety indicators, including a poor safety record
(injury rates) and a self-described
negative culture. Though originally thought to be a prime
candidate, the lab manager chose not
to be involved. Instead, a lab manager that had previous personal
experience in mindfulness
immediately expressed interest in the study. Though personally
familiar with mindfulness, the
lab manager abstained from participation in the experiment and
removed himself from the daily
training in order to avoid impacting subjects’ participation.
Participants were lab technicians that worked in genome sequencing.
Daily work
consisted of detail oriented assembly, including the usage of
hazardous chemicals. There were
16 members of the lab that participated. Participants were mixed
gender, 9 females and 7 males.
Age range varied from early 20’s to late 50’s, with a mean of 33.
Participants were all high
school educated. None of the participants had previous experience
with mindfulness training or
meditation.
To explore and analyze the relationship between mindfulness and
workplace safety, a
field research experiment was conducted with a qualitative data
approach. Specifically, semi-
structured interviews were conducted to foster emergent dialogue,
offering greater depth in
understanding participant experiences.
Instruments
A mobile application was created to write script for a guided
meditation which was to be
used throughout the experiment. This guided breathing script has
been used with combat
veterans to support treatment of PTSD. Some language was modified
to support the work
environment and the final stanza of the script brought participants
attention to their personal
safety and the potential risks that exist within their workplace.
The full script has been included
in the appendices (Appendix 1). Upon completion of the script, the
PI contracted the script to be
recorded and mixed by contacts that work professionally in the
music industry. The recorded
meditation was 3 minutes and 14 seconds in duration
Procedure
Participants met with the PI in the lab. The 45-minute training
included discussions on
the current mindfulness research trends, areas mindfulness was
currently being applied, and
neuroscience research supporting mindfulness. This training was
intended to provide contextual
background for the participants and create conditions that would
encourage the participants to
engage in daily mindfulness practices. Included in the training was
an overview of the
mindfulness script and the PI led the group through the guided
meditation that would be used for
daily mindfulness practice.
33
The second phase of this study involved the implementation of a
daily meditation
practice. Using the recorded MP3 file, participants were encouraged
to use the guided meditation
daily. Participants were instructed to use the meditation together
as a group during a morning
meeting. During the meeting, the lab met as a group within their
designed meeting space. They
completed their morning stretches, which were already part of their
daily routine, then sat
together and listened to the guided meditation. The intervention
lasted 6 weeks, or 30 work days,
resulting in over 90 minutes of mindfulness training.
Source of data
After the six-week experiment, the PI returned to the site to
conduct semi-structured
interviews with experiment participants. The interviews were
designed to allow the PI to ask
open-ended questions encouraging participants to describe their
experience and any impact they
may have noticed of mindfulness practice to their personal safety.
The interview script has been
in included in the appendices (Appendix 2).
To gain a deeper understanding of the potential impact of the
low-dose mindfulness
training, the interview was conducted in three sections. The first
line of questions was intended
to capture participant’s general reactions to their experience to
their exposure to mindfulness
training. The PI then focused follow up questions on the impact
mindfulness training may have
had on two key areas which may be directly related to potential for
improving workplace safety.
The first series of follow up questions explored how the
mindfulness training may have impacted
the participants stress levels or how they responded to stress in
their lives differently in the past
six-weeks. The second area explored the perceived impact that the
mindfulness training may
34
related to the stress and attention series set, asked participants
to discuss any connections they
experienced in regard to workplace safety.
Of the 16 active participants, 7 agreed to interviews. The
remaining participants chose
not to be interviewed due to daily work demands. Each face to face
interview lasted between 25
and 55 minutes. Interviews were voluntary, as the lab manager set
up a private room for
interviews and encouraged employees to attend. In discussing
interview protocol with lab
manager and contact at the organization, it was determined that
interviews would not be recorded
to ensure honesty. For example, admitting to short-cuts in safety
protocol could negatively
impact a worker’s employment status so it was determined that the
PI would take notes
confidentially by hand. Interviews were then transcribed and
coded.
Chapter 4: Results
The purpose of this case study was to explore the relationship
between mindfulness and
workplace safety. Though a growing body of research exists which
examines that benefits of
mindfulness in the workplace (Good et al., 2016; Hülsheger et al.,
2013; Hyland et al., 2015),
this case study explored the impact a low-dose mindfulness training
program could have on
workplace safety. By conducting a six-week intervention
incorporating a low-dose mindfulness
program with a diagnostic laboratory, this case study offered
initial evidence of the potential to
use mindfulness as proactive tool for increasing workplace
safety.
Overall Experience
The first subset of questions asked participants to reflect on
their overall experience
participating in a six-week mindfulness training program. As the
participants expressed no
benefits related to their experience. In describing their overall
experience, responses were
clustered around two distinct areas: the daily meditation schedule
and unexpected benefits
experienced through the six-week trial.
Many respondents confirmed that the duration of the mindfulness
training was sufficient
for their application, stating that three minutes seemed to be an
appropriate entry point for those
with no previous exposure to mindfulness. The only objection to the
three minute duration was
one respondent who described the room where they conducted the
training was very loud due to
neighboring labs. This person felt that a longer daily practice
would have netted better results:
“The lab next to us is loud so sometimes it would take me a few
minutes to focus on my breath and the words of the
meditation.”
Though this comment was related to the duration of the mediation,
the comment brings
up further considerations related to noise in the environment of
the mindfulness training.
In response to the question of daily practice, all participants
reported daily practice as a
non-issue. The consistency of making it part of the lab’s morning
meeting quickly established
completing the low-dose mindfulness trainings as a new norm. Though
the entire group
completed the training together during the morning meeting, the
ability to complete a second
practice daily was less consistent. Respondents cited a multitude
of reasons for their inability to
complete a second session daily, including scheduling and
production pressures. However,
respondents felt strongly that a more structured afternoon session
could have yielded more
positive results. As one respondent expressed:
36
One pair of respondents were temporarily transferred to another lab
two weeks after the
intervention began. When asked if they could maintain their
mindfulness training, the
participants responded emphatically:
“Yes we were able to keep it up daily. We even had to work in the
dry ice area (different lab), when we were there (different lab) we
were not doing the meditations with everyone else as we were in a
different area. We did it everyday anyway. At least two times a
day. Other people looked at us a little funny but we didn’t care,
we even told them they should do it with us. We’d tell them it
helps us relax our minds. We think everyone should do this to calm
down, relax, and be nice.”
The incorporation of the daily practice into an existing structure
supported the initial
fidelity of the experiment design. Beyond the initial structural
support for the training to occur
daily, experienced benefits led to the daily implementation moving
beyond the work
environment and resulting in unexpected positive impacts.
As respondents began describing their daily use, most participants
described that they
began experiencing benefits that extended beyond the workplace.
When describing their
experience, participants described improvements in sleep, memory,
and interpersonal
relationships. For example, participants described taking the
practice home with them and
listening to the recorded meditation at night prior to falling
asleep. As one respondent
articulated:
“Nightly practice helped me sleep. My house is loud with people
coming in and out all the time. I find my mind racing a lot,
especially when I try to fall asleep. I had erratic sleep. After I
would listen to the meditation and then found it easier to fall
asleep.”
Improvements in one’s memory were also described by participants.
Improvements in
memory were evident to respondents both in their ability to
remember things like directions,
daily tasks they needed to accomplish, and names. The improvement
described in remembering
other’s names also positively impacted participant’s interpersonal
relationships. One respondent
37
described how remembering names and the mindfulness training in
general impacted them in
social situations:
“(The mindfulness training) helped me in social situations as well,
if I was meeting new people and getting nervous, I would take a few
breaths and then I would be more comfortable speaking with them. I
found I would remember their names more. Usually I am really shy
and I found I was more at ease and able to speak to people I didn’t
know without being as nervous.”
Others described how the incorporation of the daily mindfulness
practice improved the
way they perceived themselves at work. One respondent described in
detail being less “snappy”
and treating co-workers better and simply being more “pleasant to
be around.” Others responded
that they found that the intensity of anger or frustration they had
with another after an argument
(both at work and outside of work) dissipated much more quickly
than before they began the
mindfulness training. Further, there were comments made that
described “withholding
judgments” about co-workers and the ability to reduce or suspend
the judgment of others.
Impact on Stress
Following an unstructured conversation regarding participants
experience with a low-
dose mindfulness training program, the focus of the interview
questions shifted specifically to
the participant’s ability to manage stress. Respondents were asked
a series of questions related to
their experience using the three minute daily mindfulness
practice.
There was strong consensus from all respondents that the
mindfulness training had a
significant impact on their ability to manage stress. Participants
described a noticeable difference
in a decrease in their overall stress level. One participant
described this personal shift by saying:
“I used to feel like my mind was racing 100 miles an hour. I found
that doing this twice a day for the last six weeks, as well as at
home, has helped me slow down. I feel it has really helped me stay
calm.”
Other respondents supported this theme expanding on how though they
were skeptical at
38
participation in the daily training has given them a tool that has
enabled them to calm down and a
healthy way to de-stress. One respondent described being able to
“feel the calming words of the
meditation” during the daily practice.
This theme of “calming down” was applied directly to the workplace
by respondents.
Participants described feeling “production pressure” during very
busy times in the lab. During
times when the amount of orders to get filled created pressure,
respondents described stepping
away from their work to listen to the recorded meditation.
Participants described feeling more
energized, focused, and efficient when they returned to their work.
Further, respondents
described not only feeling the difference in themselves personally
(“keeping calm”) but as one
participant described:
“You could feel it in yourself (calming influence) and see how this
changed how others interacted with each other.”
A series of comments related to this theme suggest that there were
perceived positive
impacts on the respondents’ abilities to personally manage stress
as well as a positive impact on
interpersonal communication.
personal stress. Participants had no previous experience with
meditation and found the low-dose
application to be attainable. Despite a low-dose duration of the
training, respondents reported
benefits consistent with benefits associated with mindfulness
training programs of greater
intensity (Khoury et al., 2015).
Impact on Awareness/Attention and Connections to workplace
safety
Any potential positive impact on participant’s awareness or
attention was the primary
focus of interest to the researcher as potential exists to make
advancements in workplace safety
Sutcliffe, 2006). After concluding six-weeks of a low-dose
mindfulness practice, interviewees
reported increases in attention and awareness. Themes emerged and
examples were shared of
changes in safety behavior such as participants paying closer
attention to standard operating
procedures and noticing when PPE was not being worn, because of
this enhanced awareness,
providing evidence of a positive correlation between mindfulness
practice and potential for
increased worker safety.
As was evident in other sections of the interviews, participants
began describing their
increased awareness and attention in very general terms. There was
a feeling described of
“clearing our minds” prior to work beginning. Respondents described
how much they enjoyed
the morning schedule that was created in the lab. By beginning
first with physical stretches, and
then transitioning to the mindfulness practice, participants
described being more relaxed and less
likely to “rush” as the work began. Rather than rushing,
participants described taking their time
and thinking more vividly about the tasks ahead. A theme emerged of
respondents visualizing
the work prior to engaging, creating processes that helped slow
them down. This ability to “slow
down” created a new behavior of prioritizing the day rather than
jumping into the work on
autopilot. The ability to prioritize tasks while decreasing their
tendency to rush into their work
contributed to increased safety performance. One respondent
stated:
“When I was more aware and awake I found myself picturing the day
and work I needed to get done. I would see the work rather than
just jump into things quickly without thinking about it. I am just
more aware.”
This general theme of enhanced awareness created opportunities for
participants to notice how
this may have a direct relationship to their own safety. For
example, one participant described:
40
This awareness and noticing things one had not noticed prior helped
to surface a
distinction between their current state, when using the mindfulness
practice, and the “auto-pilot”
respondents described experiencing in the past. A specific
distinction was made as participants
cited “seeing” things, like equipment stored in their hallway, that
they had never noticed.
Participants described being more aware of potential housekeeping
issues that could pose safety
risks that until now, had gone unnoticed.
This distinction between a “new” way of working because of this
enhanced awareness
was described by participants with explicit examples of how safety
behavior changed because of
this awareness. Participants discussed being more aware of their
policies and procedures. One
participant captured this theme by saying:
“I saw new things. I was more aware when reading documents and
S.O.P.s (Standard Operating Procedures). As I was looking at the
documents more closely, I found I was paying more attention and
asking more questions. I was more critical of the procedures and
was asking more questions.”
This increased attention to S.O.P.s was emphasized during the
interviews as participants
described how this increased attention was of great importance due
to the hazardous chemicals
that they work with on a daily basis. This described enhanced focus
gave participants greater
confidence in their ability to work safely. One respondent
described this new way of working:
“I am taking the time to read the chemicals and S.O.P.s more
closely than I have in the past. I found that I am being much more
careful. Many of these chemicals are very dangerous and I am paying
more attention to what I am mixing and the amounts.”
Participants described an overall positive shift in safe working
behavior because of this
daily practice. Further, participants described how this awareness
also informed them of some of
the dangerous norms they had developed.
41
As respondents described a positive shift in safe behavior, this
daily practice also resulted
in awareness of dangerous habits participants had unknowingly
developed. An increased
awareness was described of the policies that participants were not
currently following with
regularity. Participants described examples which included
increased awareness of when they,
or someone around them, were not wearing the proper Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE),
such as work boots or safety glasses. This awareness led to
participants self-correcting and
wearing the required PPE, where in the past they “never really
thought about it or recognized it.”
Awareness was also greatly sharpened in how safely participants
perceived that they worked. In
our initial training, a conversation occurred regarding
participants’ reflections on the number of
short-cuts (bypassing a safety procedure to get a job done more
quickly) they were taking daily.
As short-cuts put workers at greater risk for injury, workers are
encouraged to put their personal
safety above taking short-cuts. Participants described a shift in
awareness of how often they were
taking short cuts. As one participant described:
“After spending the last six weeks doing the meditation, I became
way more aware of how often I take short-cuts. I do it everyday and
never even thought about it before.”
As was demonstrated with other points of awareness, participants
described this
awareness of short-cuts being the insight needed to alter their
current behavior practices.
Respondents described that they now are thinking twice before
taking short-cuts, choosing
instead to follow the S.O.P. or wear the proper safety equipment
despite any impact this choice
may have on meeting a perceived production deadline.
In addition to the positive responses that the mindfulness practice
had on workplace
safety, an additional subtheme emerged of performance being
positively influenced by the daily
mindfulness practice. Respondents described their enhanced
awareness impacting their job
42
performance in their ability to notice defective components in
their work. One respondent
mentioned:
“After we started doing this (mindfulness practice) I noticed more
bad seal tubes than ever before.”
This increased awareness led to the recognition of more failed
components, resulting in a
higher quality score.
The participation in a low-dose mindfulness training program for a
minimum of three
minutes a day for six weeks yielded positive workplace outcomes.
Participants described
benefits and improvements in attention and awareness that resulted
in positive changes in well-
being, work performance, interpersonal relationships, and workplace
safety.
Chapter 5: Discussion
The goal of this research was to explore the relationship between
mindfulness practice
and safety performance in the hope of developing an intervention
that would increase workplace
safety. Specifically, this study sought to ask if there would be
perceived benefits to workplace
safety through the incorporation of a low-dose mindfulness training
program?
This final chapter provides a discussion of the study. The first
section describes the
theoretical implications of this case study. The second section
builds on the theoretical
implications and offers practical implications of the case study.
Limitations of this study are
then discussed followed by suggested areas of future study.
Theoretical Implications
Mindfulness to Workplace Outcomes (Good et al., 2016), respondents
demonstrated benefits that
are in alignment with the framework.
As mindfulness was practiced, attention and awareness were
described as enhanced by
participants. With enhanced attention/awareness participants
described benefits in their job and
safety performance, clarity of task prioritization, more positive
interpersonal relationships with
their colleagues, and improvements in their well-being through
improvements in their ability to
manage stress as well as improvements in sleep quality. Extensive
research has demonstrated
the benefits associated with mindfulness and its positive impact in
managing stress (Khoury et
al., 2015). Mindfulness training targeted at stress reduction often
follows the basic structures of
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs. MBSR programs
have been extensively
researched to show positive clinical health outcomes such as stress
reduction and treatment of
depression and anxiety (Khoury et al., 2015). The demonstration of
such benefits through the
incorporation of a low-dose mindfulness training program further
supports the existing research
on workplace outcomes of increased mindfulness (Good et al.,
2016).
Mindfulness Can Impact Workers With “Low-Complexity” Positions In
some of the limited research exploring mindfulness and safety
performance, there
exists a hypothesis that low-complexity task holders (front line
employees) do not experience the
benefits of mindfulness and may actually experience a decrease in
task performance when
mindfulness is present (Zhang et al., 2013). The current study
demonstrated positive impacts
associated with mindfulness (e.g., enhanced attention, improved
stress response, improvements
in interpersonal relationships, increased work performance) with
workers that may be classified
by some as being in positions of low-complexity. This result offers
data that supports the
potential for enterprise-wide implementations of mindfulness in the
workplace. Though
workplace mindfulness has become popular in leadership development,
mindfulness has the
potential to benefit the health, well-being, performance, and
safety of workers at all levels of an
organization. The more levels of an organization that are included
in mindfulness training, the
greater the potential organization-wide benefits.
Low-Dose Mindfulness Practice Can Positively Impact Workplace
Safety Previous studies have established a connection between
safety and mindfulness (Zhang et
al., 2013; Zhang & Wu, 2014). This positive trend of increased
mindfulness associated with
increased safety performance. However, these studies did not
measure the impact that
mindfulness training may have on increasing one’s mindfulness, and
in doing so, improving
safety performance. Analysis of the daily incorporation of a
low-dose mindfulness training
program was reported to positively impact workplace safety. Through
increased awareness and
attention, participants described noticing more unsafe behaviors
and shifting their behavior to
work more safely. Whether mixing chemicals, following S.O.P.s,
working more carefully,
slowing down or noticing and correcting lapses in wearing proper
safety equipment, participants
described at length how the incorporation of this training
positively impacted their personal
safety behaviors and the behaviors they observed in their
colleagues. Building on previous
research, this study strengthened the case for the potential for
positive improvements in
workplace safety through the incorporation of a low-dose
mindfulness program. Organizations
grappling with challenges surrounding workplace safety or simply
looking to become world-
class in safety performance may look into incorporating low-dose
mindfulness training as a
leading edge safety solution.
Though the focus of the study was to explore the connections to
workplace safety, the
benefits associated with well-being and interpersonal relationships
demonstrate the potential
45
benefits of a low-dose mindfulness practice to extend beyond a
singular desired outcome. While
confirming and building upon existing workplace mindfulness
research, the outcomes of this
study also generated practical implications that could further
develop the area of workplace
mindfulness, specifically related to mindfulness and workplace
safety.
Practical Implications: Structure Leads to Fidelity
With safety often falling under EHS departments within
organizations, the continued
exploration of mindfulness benefits may extend to numerous
company-wide initiatives aimed at
improving employee health and wellness, including but not limited
to workplace safety. Though
low-dose mindfulness training may not lead to enlightenment or
traditional goals associated with
the origins of Eastern-mindfulness practices, the awareness yielded
substantial benefits that may
be obtained through an enterprise-wide mindfulness training
program. When attempting to
design a potential mindfulness program, EHS professionals may look
to leverage existing
structures that may support the implementation of a workplace
mindfulness program, such as
making mindfulness a part of routine stretching periods.
To create a successful mindfulness training program, organizations
could consider
implementing low-dose mindfulness programs that include a
manageable duration. MBSR
programs generally require a minimum of 45 minutes a day of
meditation, six days a week for
eight-weeks as well as over 30 hours of direct instruction. In this
study, the focus was to see if a
low-dose mindfulness training (3-6 minutes daily) within the
workplace could produce similar
benefits to those described in more intensive MBSR programs.
In addition to the duration, it is also suggested that the
mindfulness training script include
mindfulness practice with pre-job stretching. In this experiment,
leveraging the current structure
to take care of the body and mind together yielded an environment
that supported the fidelity of
daily mindfulness training. The structure that was created
established a new shared norm that
mindfulness training was part of the daily routine. This new norm
of acceptance to engage in the
mindfulness training, as well as management support, may have led
to support for the new
practice that was aimed at increasing workplace safety. With
fidelity, participants experienced
many positive impacts consistent with current mindfulness research.
EHS professionals
attempting to implement a mindfulness training program may wish to
leverage existing structure
to reduce resistance and increase fidelity.
Train as a Group Rather than Individually Though there are
organized classes and courses designed to support mindfulness
training
in the group setting, mindfulness training is often a solitary act.
The experiment conducted was
originally designed to support individual mindfulness training
through the development of a
recorded MP3 file housed on an existing mobile application. The
participants of the study chose
instead to incorporate the daily mindfulness training into their
morning pre-shift routine.
Through the newly established norm, the group reinforced a
commitment to the practice, which
led to a high degree of fidelity. As mindfulness training becomes
more integrated into the
workplace, this study offers evidence of the potential positive
impact in fidelity and culture by
encouraging group, rather than solitary participation.
Limitations
This study has four main limitations. The first limitation was the
sample size. A larger
sample size, potentially across departments, using the daily
incorporation of a low-dose
47
second limitation of this study is the duration of the study. With
only a six-week duration, the
study could have yielded more extensive findings with a longer
study window. A third limitation
of this study is that those who participated in the qualitative
interviews were voluntary. This
may have skewed the data so that only those with positive
experiences were willing to discuss
their perceptions of the low-dose mindfulness training program. The
final limitation of this study
involves the actual guided meditation the participants used in the
study. Due to recording
challenges, the audio quality of the meditation was average. With
higher quality equipment and
voice actors the quality may have improved, impacting the fidelity
or overall experience for
participants.
With research exploring the relationship between workplace safety
and mindfulness in its
infancy, the current study began to explore the topic yet many
relevant questions remain.
The first consideration for further exploration is to expand the
study size exploring the
connection of a low-dose mindfulness training program to workplace
safety outcomes to yield
both quantitative and qualitative data sets that are significant.
Though the data pool of
participants in this study yielded positive results, a more robust
sample would greatly enhance
this contribution to advancing current research.
Examining the impact of low-dose mindfulness training on workplace
safety while using
a control group would gain greater insight into the potential
benefits compared to other potential
interventions. Through the incorporation of a control group in an
extended study, results could be
more critically analyzed. Control groups could include other
interventions including but not
limited to journaling daily. Further comparison could greatly
enhance the potential benefits of
the mindfulness training.
Though this study demonstrated positive effects of mindfulness
training through group
training, further study comparing the perceived impacts of the
mindfulness training in group
versus individual would also be worth studying. Further, exploring
the impact the environment
may have in the perceived effectiveness would also be valuable to
explore. One respondent in
this study cited a challenge with the noise present in the lab they
conducted their daily
mindfulness training. There is potential that environment could
play a role in the degree of
benefits received from mindfulness training.
Opportunity exists to move beyond enhanced intrapersonal awareness
to study platforms
for sharing insights due to increased awareness. Interviewees
revealed powerful insights and
shifts experienced by participants. However, others within the
organization were less aware of
collective benefits associated with the practice. A recommendation
for increasing the
transformational potential of this intervention would be to create
a platform for ongoing
conversations based on the increased awareness obtained. This would
further the learning
associated with increased awareness and changes in safety behavior
while integrating the
benefits of mindfulness practices into the collective
culture.
Conclusion
The potential implications for mindfulness to positively impact
workplace safety are
abundant. With over three million nonfatal injuries and over 4,600
workplace fatalities
occurring each year in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor,
2014/2015) even a modest
intervention may yield significant improvements in workplace
safety. The current study, as well
as other studies (e.g., Huber et al., 2015), are just beginning to
explore a potential intervention
49
benefits could extend beyond safety metrics to include personal
well-being and interpersonal
relationships while simultaneously improving safety
performance.
This demonstrated ability to improve workplace safety through
participation in a low-
dose mindfulness practices creates great opportunity to enhance
workplace safety that is time
efficient and negligible cost. The ability to work on leading edge
(proactive) safety interventions
has the potential to keep countless workers free from potential
injury or death. There exists great
opportunity to positively influence the human factors (e.g.,
attention, fatigue) that lead to safety
incidents and unsafe behavior (Huber et al., 2015). Respondents
overwhelmingly supported the
theory that this daily practice can improve workplace safety by
reducing anxiety and stress,
increasing attention, and improving relationships and communication
amongst peers. These
benefits can lead to improvements in safety performance as well as
creating a culture of learning
best practices rather than a culture of blaming through retroactive
safety initiatives. Based on this
study the potential exists for the incorporation of a low-dose
mindfulness program to positively
impact safety performance, saving injuries and deaths through a
minimally invasive proactive
safety intervention.
(1) Guided Meditation Scripts
Research Questions Interview Questions How did participants
experience a daily low- dose mindfulness practice?
o How did they perceive the daily meditation practice?
o Were you able to maintain a daily practice? o What
benefits, if any, did you experience as a
result of the daily mindfulness practice? o What challenges
did you encounter with the
daily practice?
Will the incorporation of a low-dose mindfulness practice increase
attention/awareness?
o What did you notice about your awareness as a result of
this daily practice?
o Where did you find yourself more aware or mindful?
o Was there an impact on your attention level as a result of
your practice? Please elaborate
Will the incorporation of a low-dose mindfulness practice reduce
stress in participants?
o Did you notice any impact to your stress level or the way
you perceived stress in your life as a result of the daily
mindfulness practice?
o Have you noticed any change in your response to
stress?
Will the incorporation of a low-dose mindfulness practice increase
workplace safety?
o Did you find any changes in your safety behaviors as a
result of the daily mindfulness practice?
o Did you notice any change in the amount of “workarounds”
you were using during the four-week study?
o Do you see any benefits of the incorporation of a daily
mindfulness practice and increased worker safety?
52
Good et al. / Contemplating Mindfulness at Work 3
therapeutic tool to help medical patients manage chronic illness
(Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Two decades later, Weick and Roberts (1993),
inspired by Langer and colleagues’ research (e.g., Langer, 1989),
introduced mindfulness into the management literature, but their
conception of mindfulness as cognitive flexibility and attention to
novelty is largely distinct from Bud- dhist conceptions.
Classical Buddhist accounts of mindfulness highlight clear-minded
attention to and awareness of what is perceived in the present
(Quaglia, Brown, Lindsay, Creswell, & Goodman, 2015). The terms
attention and awareness are important to understanding
Figure 1 Integrative Framework Relating Mindfulness to Workplace
Outcomes
by guest on November 19, 2015jom.sagepub.comDownloaded from
56
References
Arch, J. J., & Craske, M. G. (2010). Laboratory stressors in
clinically anxious and non-anxious
individuals: The moderating role of mindfulness. Behaviour Research
and Therapy, 48(6),
495–505. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.02.005
Beach, M. C., Rot